Belt buckle



F R. RIES May 24, 1966 BELT BUCKLE I III a nil,

Filed Dec. 4, 1964 United States Patent 3,252,196 BELT BUCKLE Frank R. Ries, 1015 E. 47th St., Tacoma, Wash. Filed Dec. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 415,932 1 Claim. (Cl. 24230) This invention relates to belts, and more particularly to an automatically securing belt buckle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a belt buckle which will allow a belt to be set to a particular length and will remain the same length until changed, eliminating the former need of locating a particular hole in order to secure the buckle tongue.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a belt buckle which, when closed, will have guide means and latch means internally to automatically, by spring action, lock the belt buckle to the male end of the belt.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a belt buckle which will have a positive, one-finger operated release to separate the buckle from the male end of the belt.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a belt buckle bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and efiicient in operation and use.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the present invention shown in section;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the face plate shown removed from FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view showing a modified form of face plate and latch;

FIGURE 5 is a front view showing a modified buckle plate; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view showing the front of the buckle utilizing the mechanism shown in FIGURE 5.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a belt buckle 10 made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a base frame 12 of rectangular configuration and made of metal or other suitable material having side walls 14 and 14. An elongated opening 16 through base frame 12 provides a means for receiving one end of a belt and the male end of the belt 18 is tapered and is guided inwardly of buckle 10 by means of a pair of spaced apart triangular wedges 20 which are fixedly secured to base frame 12. An L-shaped latch 22 is received within buckle 10 and is provided with a round: ed extension 24 which is received within a mating opening 26 of male end of belt 18 and provides a means for locking the end of belt 18 within buckle 10. A steel spring 28 springingly urges against an arcuate surface 30 of the lower extremity of latch 22 and allows latch 22 to snappingly engage with the opening 26 of the male end of belt 18. Spring 28 is secured by a pair of spaced apart fasteners 32 to base frame 12. An opening 34 of rectangular configuration through side wall 14 of base frame 12 freely and slidably receives latch 22 and one edge of wedges 20 provides guide means for latch 22. A projection 38 at right angles to a guide plate 40 pro- 3,252,195 Patented May 24, 1966 vides stop means for latch 22 against the action of spring 28 by being freely and slidably received within a rectangular opening 36 in one side of latch 22. A face plate 42 of rectangular configuration is received and secured to side walls 14 and 14' of buckle 10 and secures all of the above components in their proper places within buckle 10.

In use, the male end 18 of the belt is inserted into the end containing the wedges of base frame 12 and wedges 20 guide the tapered end of belt 18 so that it will properly align with the extension 24 of latch 22. When the opening 26 passes over the rounded extension 24 of latch 22, latch 22 by means of the spring 28 urging against its lower extremity surface snappingly engages .the end of the belt and secures it in position. When it is desired to remove the belt, the wearer places his finger upon the upper extremity of latch 22 and urges downwardly against the spring 28 which will free the male end of the belt from buckle 10.

A modified form of buckle 44 is shown in FIGURE 4 and is shown to have a rectangular face plate 46 having an elongated vertical slot 48 which freely and slidably receives an extending button 50 which projects from latch 52 and allows the latch 52 to be disengaged fromthe end of the buckle (not shown).

The operation of belt buckle 44 is the same as that described in the main embodiment of the present invention with the exception that release of latch 52 is accomplished by button 50 which extends from the front of the buckle 44.

vAnother modified form of buckle 54 is shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6 and is shown to include a slidable latch 56 which has one end extending from a rectangular opening 59, the end being identified by the numeral 58, through the lower extremity of buckle 54 providing a means for releasing the end of the belt from the lower extremity of the buckle 54. A stop plate 60 is also provided for latch 56 as described for the main embodiment of the present invention, and a spring 62 is secured within buckle 54 to springingly urge latch 56 to engage with the male end of the belt which is to be received within the buckle 54.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A belt buckle comprising, in combination, a base frame of substantially rectangular configuration including top, bottom and side walls, said frame having front and rear openings therein, bottom wall of said frame is provided with a lateral slot for receiving one end of a belt, a pair of triangular wedges oppositely spaced from each other and secured to the internal portions of said top, bottom and wall sections of said frame for guiding inwardly the tapered end of said belt, one of said side walls of said frame being provided with an opening therein, a substantially L-shaped latch is received within said frame, one end of said latch is extending to said opening, a spring member having one of its ends secured to another one of said side walls, said spring member is adapted to support the bottom portion of said latch, said latch is provided with a rounded extension which is adapted to be received within the opening of said tapered end of said belt, the main portion of said latch is provided with a 7 3 recess, a guide plate secured within said top and bottom 509,552 walls of said frame, said guide plate is'provided with'a 1,565,678 projection extending outwardly toward said latch, said 2,446,951 projection is adapted to provide stop means for said 2,478,019 latch against the resilient action of said spring member 5 3,201,840 when said latch is urged downwardly for releasing said tapered end of said belt from said frame.

435,459 References Cited by the Examiner 1, 3 UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 603950 186,746 1/1877 Mix 292128 X 4 Oldham. Severson 24230.1 Quilter. Sonntag. Jantzen 24230.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 3/1912 France. 1/ 1962 France. 3/ 1960 Italy.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

